The Widow Wager by Jess Michaels

Author:Jess Michaels [Michaels, Jess]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Passionate Pen
Published: 2015-04-21T07:00:00+00:00

Crispin tensed at the question. Had he ever held a baby before? Not in his recollection, though perhaps he had held Annabelle as a baby.

Still, that wasn’t exactly his style. He stammered, looking for an answer, but Serafina didn’t wait. She moved a step closer.

“Hold your arms like I am,” she encouraged him, and he copied her stance as best he could. “I’ll lay him in the crook there and all you must do is hold his head steady.”

Crispin hesitated. “Serafina, I—”

She smiled. “You won’t break him, Crispin, I assure you.” With that, she set the warm armful of blanket into his arms and, once her hands were free, pulled the edge away to reveal a tiny pink face.

Crispin froze at the sight of it, the sight of this little life in his arms, created by his brother and the sister-in-law Crispin had been avoiding for months. This baby was a Flynn. This baby shared his blood. And his name. He couldn’t forget that this baby shared his name.

An intense, powerful and very sudden swell of love filled him as he stared into the blue eyes that looked very much like his own. He would protect this child. He would love this child. He would do everything he could to make this child happy.

“Powerful, isn’t it?” Rafe asked, and Crispin jerked his head up. All he could manage was a nod, for he feared his voice would crack if he said anything at present.

The baby squirmed ever so slightly and let out a plaintive cry. Crispin stared at Serafina in horror. “What did I do?”

“Nothing, he just wants his supper.” Serafina laughed. She motioned to Gemma. “Give him to your wife, and the ladies and I will retire so I can grant him his wish while you men talk seriously over port.”

She walked away, and Crispin met Gemma’s eyes as she slowly stood. She looked as nervous as he had as she held out her arms for the baby, but as soon as the child was in her arms, she relaxed with a happy sigh.

“Oh, it’s the smell of them, isn’t it?” she whispered.

It was Crispin’s mother who laughed. “They should bottle it.”

“Come, ladies,” Serafina said as she opened the door. “Our parlor awaits.”

Crispin watched as his new wife carried his brother’s child from the room, her beautiful face focused entirely on the little bundle in her arms. Relaxed as she was, her expression was readable in every way. He saw that it wasn’t only her late husband who had wanted a child. The flicker of joy and pain in Gemma’s eyes told him she had wanted that just as desperately.

The door closed behind the four women and Crispin sucked in a long breath, the first he had taken in what felt like an eternity.

“So that is your namesake,” Rafe said, coming around the settee to clap him on the shoulder. “What do you think of him?”

“He’s a handsome boy,” Crispin said, still almost feeling the weight of the baby in his arms.

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